A two-part exploration, AVATARS // ghosts and AVATARS // futures attempt to document the ways that artists represent their bodies, their ideas, their nations, and their dead in today’s digital world where the physical and virtual, human and non-human, self and other, are increasingly intertwined and indistinguishable. “Avatar” is originally a Sanskrit word describing mortal incarnations of Hindu deities. In colloquial use, the term refers to a digital image or 3D character representing an individual on the internet. Drawing inspiration from these concepts, the AVATARS exhibitions are a transdisciplinary exploration of folkloric characters, alter-egos, cyborgs, and incarnations.

AVATARS debuted at the San Francisco Art Institute in fall of 2018. A selection of works from the original San Francisco show will travel to Somerville to continue the thread of the exhibition from its inception.

Performances by Xray Aims and Fine Art Superheroes (by Basil El Halwagy) at the opening reception on March 22, 2019. Please be advised that Xray’s performance will include needles piercing skin and possibly blood.